


How to Deal with Adults

by ThornsandRamHorns



Category: Monsters Inc. (Movies)
Genre: Cheesy, Eventual Romance, F/M, Human/Monster Romance, Rating May Change, Self-Indulgent, Slow Build, i'm sorry but i'm also not sorry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-15
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:08:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21801904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThornsandRamHorns/pseuds/ThornsandRamHorns
Summary: Catering to the needs of a human child is one thing but dealing with an adult who no longer has child-like innocence is another. Is it possible to maintain the balance between the separate worlds while talking to the new human in your old friend's bedroom or the monster in your new closet?
Relationships: James P. Sullivan/OC, James P. Sullivan/Original Character
Comments: 2
Kudos: 23





	1. A New Place, A New Face

**Author's Note:**

> Before we delve into this mumbled up story written by an addict, I think it’s best to clarify a few details to prepare the reader – or scare them off. Firstly, this is a story that includes a noncanonical character. I’ll do my best to give her a vague and relatable demeanour so she may be a placeholder for the readers self-insertion. I will confess that this writing is a work of my minds own guilty desires (think Fifthy Shades of Grey but less sexual), so the character will reflect on myself quite a bit. However, my intention is still to make this as enjoyable as it can be for others. Why else would I post it online?  
> Secondly, this story's premise is loosely based on Circle 7 Animations rendition of Monsters, Inc. 2: Lost in Scaridise. I highly recommend googling it if the reader finds this interesting. While the concept was scrapped, I thought elements of it worked well with my intended story.  
> Lastly, with the new Monsters at Work Disney+ series coming out next year and the uncertainty of where they’ll go with their stories, this story takes place where the events of the show have no effect on the original two movies. This is to prevent any confusion or any canonical changes the show makes.  
> With all of that out of the way, I hope I didn’t scare too many of you off! I hope you enjoy what I’ve got in store. <33  
> \- PS. Expect updates once or twice weekly, I will write one-shots occasionally too.

It had already been five years since the events that shook Monstropolis and its electrical world to its core. Five years since one little girl named Boo managed to change the way monsters collected one of their most highly demanded resources, and sadly, five years since anyone had seen her. Including the monster who found her first, James P. Sullivan. While at first it wasn’t too difficult for Sulley to sneak down to the bellows of the factory to find her door and go in to say hi and share a hug, it had become increasingly difficult with the amount of work slapped onto his plate as the new CEO of Monsters, Inc.. The door was eventually found by a CDA member, who felt sympathetic and said Sulley must take it out of the factory if he wanted to keep it. The door was then moved to his and Mike’s apartment, where it had been locked away in a hallway closet just large enough to hold the child’s door. The closet remained locked as there was no means of powering up the door, however Sulley refused to let it go as he had hoped he’d be able to power it up again eventually. Two years had then passed, and Mike had moved out to live with his new wife Celia, leaving Sulley alone in the big empty apartment. Thereafter, all of Sulley’s time became preoccupied by work and maintaining the company, forcing the idea of visiting Boo out of his mind. Though he could never forget the human child he had cared for so deeply; keeping her drawing on the back of his clipboard at all times.

~~~~~~

Today marked a new chapter in Sulley’s life, the day where he’d no longer be living in a cramped apartment. With his new CEO salary, Sulley had managed to save up enough to purchase his own home – an impressive feat in such an expensive city. He was still a bachelor; he didn’t need more than one bedroom and two bathrooms for his guests. However, the home came with three bedrooms, four bathrooms, and an impressive office space. To call the house extravagant was an understatement. Mike, George Sanderson, Jeffery Fungus, and a few other co-workers offered to help Sulley move. He hadn’t expected so many people to be so eager to help their boss.   
Mike and Sulley were doing a final walk through the apartment to make sure everything was collected and ready for transport. It instead became a walk down memory lane. Something about the apartment just felt nostalgic to Sulley, he knew Mike felt the same way. They had been in it together for nearly ten years.  
“Well Big Guy,” Mike began, placing a hand on the window and peering outside as he spoke, “It was shocking enough when I left, but now this. I can’t believe how far we’ve come.”  
Sulley rolled his eyes, he knew Mike would give some sort of emotional spiel, but this sounded verbatim to what he had said when he moved out years ago. “Mikey, we should get going. The boys are waiting for us to get downstairs.”   
The lack of sadness in his voice seemed to irritate Mike, “Well you could be more emotional about this you know! We’ve had a lot of great memories here.” Sulley nudged Mike from behind as Mike went on, “I mean, remember when we first came in and nearly broke your good chair trying to get it in here? Or when we brought our first TV in? Jeez, it was so small!”  
“Uh huh, yes Mike. I remember.” Sulley smiled while rolling his eyes this time, they were fond memories for sure, but he hated to impose on his friends while Mike continued his monologue. “Oh! And remember when we had to bring Boo back to the apartment after she snuck into our world? That was a night I’ll never forget. Celia won’t let me forget it either.” Mike chuckled nervously as he said this. Sulley hesitated and thought aloud, “How could I forget.” He stopped guiding Mike out of the apartment when he remembered the door that was still in the closet.   
He then went to the hallway closet and fumbled with his keys, opening it to reveal Boo’s door. He then grabbed the door eagerly and turned to Mike. “Oh, hey Mike! Think the others would be upset if we stopped by the factory before heading over?” Mike looked at the door then up to Sulley, his initial expression was that of frustration, “Weren’t you just shoving me out the door? Now you want to make them wait even longer!” Mike then saw Sulley’s expression of eagerness and he couldn’t help but melt into a sympathetic smile. “How about we go in my car, just so the others don’t see the door. Might be kinda weird seeing you drag a kid’s door from this place.” Sulley looked sheepish, “Oh, yeah. Good idea.”

The two then set off after explaining to the guys that Sulley forgot something in his office. It was a Saturday afternoon, the factory was closed, no one was inside, it was the perfect time to go in and do this. Sulley couldn’t believe how long it had been since he’d seen Boo, he felt ashamed that he had let it go for so long. She had to be at least eight years old by now, so much must have changed for her, it was so overwhelming for him to think about. Mike peaked over at the overthinking Sulley and patted his shoulder, “Relax Sul, she’ll remember you.” Sulley’s train of thought stopped, so did his heart. He hadn’t thought of that, what if she had forgotten about him? After all, she was only three years old when they had met, and he wasn’t too sure about human toddlers, but monster toddlers scarily remembered their early years.   
Once they had arrived Sulley scurried out of the car while holding the door tightly to his left side, meanwhile his right hand fumbled with the keys to the entrance. Mike had to run to catch up to him, “Slow down Sulley! We’re not in that big a hurry here.” Sulley looked over his shoulder as he walked, “It’s been five years Mikey, I am in a big hurry.”   
Sulley made his way over to the elevators and waited for Mike to catch up, then they went down to the closest laugh floor. Once there, Sulley made his way to a vacant door port where he plopped the door down and attached it. His eyes widened with excitement as the red light flickered on. Success. He then placed his hand on the door handle and took a deep breath, Mike cut in, “Be careful in case her parents are there too.” Sulley nodded and opened the door slightly.

As it opened, he leaned forward to peek inside, he’d expected it to look different, but this was far more dramatic than he had anticipated. He opened the door completely to reveal the room in all its glory. Nothing was the same. The walls were painted a warm taupe, the bed was now to the left side and was twice the size of the old bed. There were a few toys around, but all were clean and kept in packaging while others were stuffed toys sitting in an organized fashion on the bed. This was clearly not a kid’s room anymore. Without thinking, Sulley walked into the room and looked around from within. There was a picture on the nightstand of a mature looking pair of humans with pale skin complexions, one baring bright pink hair while the other was bald. Something was wrong. There was no way this was Boo’s room, but where was she? As Sulley let his mind wander, Mike began snapping at him to come back out, “Sulley! You shouldn’t be inside when Boo’s not there!” “Mike,” Sulley began, “I’m not sure if this is her room anymore.” As he spoke, the door opposite to him opened wide. A woman with a terrified look on her face stared blankly at Sulley as she held her phone to her ear. Her mouth gapped open and she dropped her phone to the floor. Sulley turned to face her, his body tensed when he realized he’d made a massive mistake.

\-----

Today marked a new chapter in Allison’s life, she was finally moving out of her parent’s house to live independently. Well, perhaps not independently, but away from her family. She had a friend with a boyfriend who had recently found a two-bedroom townhouse in the city to move into. It was a rental, but the trio weren’t in any position of getting an actual house, so a place like this did the job. The couple had already moved in a week prior, and they had opted for the bigger bedroom. The room that remained was clearly meant for a child, so the trio repainted the walls to make it appear more mature. There wasn’t too much Allison brought along with her, just her bare essentials, some plush to keep her company, and her clothes. She wasn’t certain whether she would stay for longer than a month, she’d have to make sure there were no pests in the house first. After unpacking all her things and leaving them on the bed, she thought it best to explore the tiny bedroom. There wasn’t much that remained of the previous occupant, other than an odd sock near the closet and the closet itself. The door looked worn out, it’s white paint was scratched up and fainted, while the pink flowers were nearly chipped off. The door handle was the most interesting part however, it looked untouched with a thick layer of dust coating it. This enticed Allison to open the door, revealing nothing of interest, except a small collection of doodles taped to the wall. Upon further inspection, the doodles appeared to be that of monsters. A big blue one with purple spots, and a big green eyeball.   
“I wish I had such a creative imagination.” Allison mumbled under her breath, peeling off one of the papers as she spoke. She gave a half-hearted smile to the monsters on the page, feeling empathetic that the girl had likely forgotten all about the drawings. She took the remaining ones off and placed them delicately in the drawer of her nightstand, thinking she might keep them for their charm. The blue one was quite appealing to her. She then proceeded to fill the closet with her clothes. She wasn’t one for possessing a variety of clothing; just jeans, hoodies, and tank tops, with the occasional nerdy scarf or shirt. After closing the closet door, she gave it another good long look, “I need to paint this too,” she sighed, “it looks rough.” 

After managing to assemble the room to her liking and placing the last stuffed toy on the bed, Allison felt a hint of pride in her new living space. She confidently put her hands on her hips and smiled to herself, “All done! Now, break time!” She went to her nightstand and collected her phone then marched herself to the kitchen after closing the door. While making herself a half-hearted sandwich, Allison began texting her friends, letting them know how she could become an interior designer if she so wished. Though her break was interrupted when loud footsteps could be heard from her room. She stopped her sandwich making and scurried up the stairs. She hesitantly put her hand on the doorknob and took a deep breath. Her heart was racing now, she could hear a male voice and she grew more nervous. She quickly got her phone ready to call 911 and got it to her ear, then mustered all her strength and opened the door.


	2. It's All in the Drawings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The truth is painful, but how Sulley will handle it even he doesn't know.

At first Sulley didn’t know if he should say something or not. He hadn’t dealt with an adult human since he had scared a group of them back in University. Somehow this was different though, she could see him clear as day and she was alone. While her expression proved that she was frightened by his mere presence, it didn’t benefit him for her to be scared. She may know where Boo was, and he was impeding on her space, he felt bad. The woman just stared at him, seemingly unsure of what to do. Sulley put his hands up beside his face and took a step towards the closet, maintaining eye contact with the human while doing so. Mike had silently begun closing the door, likely to make sure the human couldn’t see him. He let a sliver of it stay open as he watched Sulley and the human closely; the last thing they needed was another human going through the door. 

“Hey,” Sulley began, watching to see how the woman would respond to his voice, she didn’t respond at all. “I’m, um, I’m sorry for intruding. I was just looking for a little girl.” He hesitated, had he said too much? Had that sentence alone just decided the fate of the monster world? The woman’s eyes widened, she glanced at her nightstand, “Are you, the thing from her drawings?” Her voice was dry as she spoke in a whisper. She pointed at the nightstand, Sulley took the hint and opened it. There they were, a vast array of drawings of him and Mike. It broke his heart to see them, they were faded drawings, clearly done by Boo around the time she had drawn the picture of her and him together. He sombrely nodded as he held the drawings up, looking over each one as if they were maps. The woman cautiously began walking towards him, her expression matching his, “I’m really sorry, but the family that were here before moved. I don’t really know where.” Sulley’s face drooped, he was devasted. Had he stayed in contact with her he’d have known where she had moved to. There was a good chance that the CDA had erased her file and would likely make it difficult for him to track her down. Without thinking he sat himself down on the bed, it creaked with the excess weight on it. He hugged the drawings to his chest and sighed, “It’s all my fault. I should’ve visited more.” The woman, though still visibly shaken out of fear, walked forward ever so carefully. When she neared him, a cautious hand moved towards his shoulder, and feverishly placed itself onto him. Her attempt to comfort him was noted, but the grief stricken Sulley could only focus on the devasting news. All he could do was blame himself. After a pause, he lifted his head up slightly and is if on cue their eyes meet in a sombre light. The human stopped shaking, having calmed down immensely during the moment of silence. 

There was a thick air in the room now, as neither knew what to do next. Sulley snapped out of his funk and realized the situation he was still in. He began to rise from his seat on the creaking bed, forcing the human to quickly retract her hand. The two faced each other again, however now Sulley had to look down awkwardly at her. “Uh, right, well. I’m sorry to have bothered you.” He looked at the drawings and then at her again, “Would you mind if I..?” “Oh yeah of course!” She smiled sheepishly, “They’re pictures of you after all.” Sulley gave her a genuine smile as he made his way to the closet. The human spoke again, “I can see what I can do,” she paused while picking up her phone and fumbling with it, “About finding the little girl who lived her before. I’m sure they didn’t move too far away.” A hint of hope hit Sulley and his genuine smile grew. He was shocked at how quickly the human went from being scared of him to offering him assistance, but he admittedly happy about it. It could have been the timing, or the heavy emotions, but he had felt a strange connection with them. However, he quickly realized that this connection wouldn’t be able to flourish, he couldn’t let himself get attached to another human, especially so soon after learning about Boo. It felt wrong, it felt oddly worse than when he had grown attached to Boo all those years ago. As his hand made contact with the door handle, he mustered up the strength to give one last smile as he spoke back to her, “I appreciate that, but I don’t think we’ll be seeing each other again.” As he said this, he went threw the door and closed it behind him. He didn’t bother to look behind him or turn to close the door. It felt better this way, as if it was all under his control.

Mike immediately turned the door off and looked at Sulley with confusion scattered across his face. “What just happened? Who was she? Does she know where Boo is?” Sulley sighed and shrugged, “She lives there now, she didn’t know where Boo moved to.” He then showed Mike the drawings, “I think she’s probably forgotten about me by now though.” Mike took the papers and frowned as he looked through them, “I’m sorry Sul.” He handed them back to Sulley and took his car keys out, “Why don’t we focus on getting you to your new home, get your mind off this.” Sulley took the door off its port and nodded, “Good idea.”

Despite its uselessness to him now, Sulley kept the door. He told Mike that it was still symbolic to him, and he wanted to keep it for sentimental purposes. Mike reluctantly agreed and they went on their way. At the new house, the other monsters had already unpacked everything from the moving truck and were putting things in the house. There was so much space inside that they made sure to put it all in a neat pile so Sulley could pick and chose where he wanted his things to go. As Mike’s car pulled up, their old fraternity brothers Terry and Terri waved them down. They were the ones who drove the moving truck, how two heads and two sides could work together to drive a big truck was a mystery. Sulley slowly crawled out of the car while Mike nearly jumped out, “Hello you two, how’s it going? Did you guys miss us?” Mike said with a smirk. Terry responded, “Actually we did. We need to know where Sulley wants all his things.” Terri then added, “We were thinking about getting some drinks after we’re done, you guys want to come with?” “Terri this is not what we’re talking about right now.” Terry whispered, “I know but I wanted to get that out of the way!” Terri retorted.

“Guys, Sulley’s treating us all to a round, relax.” Mike grinned, nudging Sulley in the arm as he did. The three one eyed monsters laughed and began walking to the house but Sulley remained for a moment, he still couldn’t get the events of earlier out of his mind. He tried to distract his sadness by thinking about the new human. Why was she so nice to him at the end, did she feel guilty for being there instead of Boo? It was hard to say. Mike called Sulley out of his funk, “Hey, come on you big lug! This is your house after all!” “Oh yeah, coming Mikey!” Sulley called back and slowly made his way to the house.

~~~~~

After all was said and done, it took the monsters two additional hours to get everything organized and set. Turning the empty mini mansion into the perfect living space for a large bachelor CEO. The group headed to one of the fancier bars in town where everyone had a few drinks except Mike, who became a designated driver – reluctantly – and Terry who was against drinking alcohol. As Mike drove Sulley back to his new place, Sulley remained silent. This wasn’t usually unusual, but when Mike had asked him a question, Sulley didn’t acknowledge that a question was asked. 

“Sulley are you listening to me?!” Sulley jolted at the sound of Mike yelling, “Oh uh, sorry Mike. What were you saying?” Mike huffed, “I was asking if you wanted me to crash with you tonight, so you don’t feel alone in your new place. You’re clearly still upset about earlier and I’m thinking it’s better for you to be with me than for you to be flat out alone.” Sulley thought about Mike’s offer and shook his head, “No, I’ll be okay. Just need to get my mind off it all. I’ll watch TV or something to distract me.” “Are you sure?” “Yes.” “Positive?” “Yes, Mike.”

Reluctantly, Mike dropped Sulley off at his front door, but only after reminding him that he was only a ten-minutes away if Sulley needed him. Sulley gave a half-hearted chuckle and thanked him for everything before going inside his house. Sulley knew the atmosphere of a new home would feel weird for the first few nights, but this felt scarier than he had anticipated. The ceilings he had been so fixated on suddenly felt too tall, and every step he took felt like a mini earthquake. One of the newly furnished bedrooms was proclaimed the entertainment centre. He had the same set up as it had been in the apartment; his big purple chair sat in front of a coffee table, that faced a fancy TV that now was mounted on the wall instead of on a separate stand. It was a new TV for his new space, a larger, thinner one, that despite its size meant nothing to Sulley. He didn’t choose to replace the old small blocky one, he simply had to. It was no longer the age of thick TVs and repairing one cost almost as much as a new set. Mike had also played a part in the decision making, telling Sulley just how much he adored his fancy new flat screen. Perhaps he was the more modern monster of the two of them. Sulley got himself comfortable with a glass of sludge-infused coffee and sat himself down at his chair. It was one in the morning and nothing of interest was on except old shows from the 1970s. Sulley played a random game show that seemed remotely exciting. It got dull pretty quick, and once again his mind drifted. His focus was now solely on the human again. She was an interesting looking one; brown hair that went down just slightly past the shoulders, blue-ish grey eyes that reminded him of his own, a pale skin complexion and a very short stature. At best she was somewhere in the middle of his and Mike’s heights. It surprised him how vividly he had remembered her appearance, perhaps it was because she was the first adult human he had seen in detail. He then thought about the bedroom, and how it varied greatly from when it was Boo’s rooms. The colours were dulled, the bed was larger, all pretty common things for any adult, he supposed. The number of stuffed animals present didn’t seem all that adult to him however, perhaps she just liked really soft things. He smiled at this thought, maybe that was why she was unafraid of touching his fuzzy shoulder, the experience felt oddly pleasant for him that was certain. His tender smile shifted as he then thought about what he had said to her, “I won’t be seeing you again.” As he spoke, the words trailed and lingered spitefully on his tongue. Well, if he did go see her again, maybe she’d have good news. Maybe she will have looked into finding Boo for him. It wouldn’t hurt to visit her again anyways; it was rather rude of him to not introduce himself or catch her name. He then stopped himself mid-thought, there was no way he’d get the chance to visit again, would he? He’d have to lug the door to Monsters, Inc. on a Saturday and pray no one would question him on public transit or in a taxi. He knew Mike wouldn’t help him out with this again, he knew Mike would think it’s crazy. And honestly, it was. Suddenly an idea sparked into his mind, one he felt embarrassed of not having had sooner. He would bring a spare door power port to his home and plug it on in there. Why not? He owned the company now; it was technically his property to use as he saw fit. He’d have to be stealthy about it, but he knew it wouldn’t hurt to try. With his mind made up he took a finishing swig of his coffee, turned off the TV, and stretched, feeling confident and pleased with himself. Come Monday he’d take his plan into action. As crazy as it was.

\-----

When the door closed behind the monster, the air of heavy emotions lifted, leaving behind a sense of confusion and confliction. Allison hesitantly tiptoed to the closet door and opened it slowly, only to reveal her clothes. “What on earth just happened.” She said plainly, having felt cheated. How could everything just go back to normal as if there wasn’t some sort of magical portal that let in some magical being. At this point she couldn’t decide if it was a dream or not, it all felt so surreal to her. The only way for her to feel confident was to find signs that he was just there. She glanced back at her bed to see if there was a dent in the bed to indicate monster butt – there was. Upon further inspection, there was a tail indent as well. A little giggle escaped her lips as she saw it, “I can’t believe I didn’t notice a tiny tail, darn.” While taking notice, she then spotted a sheet of paper that fell on the floor. One of the drawings escaped the monster’s hands, it was one of just him on it with the word “Kitey” written beside it. Using what knowledge she had of children and their spelling habits, Allison surmised that the word that meant to be there was kitty. “Shame.” Allison mumbled while smiling to herself, “At least I have a picture of the kitty, guy, monster?” She couldn’t decide what he was, so she decided to go with monster man. She placed the photo beside the framed one on her nightstand, so she could have a constant reminder that she wasn’t going insane. It was hard to decide whether or not to tell someone about what had just happened, but she decided against it, less she get sent to an asylum. 

A few hours passed until Allison’s roommates arrived home. She remained firm on her stance to not saying anything, but she decided she’d ask about the other family, just to sate her own curiosity. She thought if anyone may know anything it would have been her roommates. “Hey, can I ask you something kinda dumb?” Allison began, leaning over a chair beside the couple, her male roommate Kenneth turned to face her, “You always ask dumb things,” he joked, “But yeah sure, go ahead.” Allison absentmindedly disregarded the snarky response, “About the family that lived here before, do you know where they may have moved to?” Kenneth gave her a confused look, then turned to his girlfriend for advice. She responded with a shrug, “How should we know? We didn’t actually talk to them when we got the place. They sold it to our landlords first.” “Carly,” Allison began, looking over at her friend, “You said you spoke with them first before our landlords.” “No,” Carly interjected, “I spoke with the them through the landlords. That’s different.” Allison raised herself up from her position, pinching the brim of her nose to calm herself. “Okay, good to know.” Before she could leave the conversation Kenneth got up from his seat, “Why does it even matter? Did they leave something here?” Allison froze, unable to think of a quick response, “Uh, yeah. The little girl left a few pictures.” The couple looked at each other than back at her, Kenneth opened his mouth to begin speaking but Allison interrupted, “It’s not that big a deal, really, I just thought it was kinda sad. That’s all.” She shrugged, “When I was a kid my drawings meant the world to me, I just hope she forgets about them.” She then absentmindedly clasped her hands and held them against her chest, “They were really cute actually.” Now it was Carly’s turn to get up, “What were they even of?” “Oh,” Allison began, smiling to herself, “Just a big blue monster.”

After dinner and a heated debate over what was a monster and what wasn’t, Allison sluggishly made her way back to her room. There was a sense of disappointment, knowing she hadn’t learnt anything about the girl’s whereabouts, but at the same time she knew it didn’t matter. The last few words that monster had said stuck out, and they sucked. How could she not meet him again after the craziness he had just put her through? He’d left her with more questions than answers and then just let himself out the door – literally. She tried her best not to think about it and decided a distraction was in order. While her room lacked much in the way of entertainment, she had made sure to bring her gaming device along to indulge in whilst bored. Video games were a decent method of divulging real-world problems and blending into fictional world problems. However, as time passed, she couldn’t stop herself from thinking back on the events of the day. She realized that deep down, it was impossible to let it go. She had so many questions about this monster, like where it came from, how it came through the closet, and how was he even a being that existed. She eventually gave up on playing games, it seemed that her efforts to forget were in vain. She decided to try and sleep, and hoped she’d forget about everything in the morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Weeeeell here is chapter 2. I thought it best to upload it right away as the cliff-hanger was strong from the last chapter. I'm including Monsters University characters because they need love too, and I'm focusing on Sulley's TV set for no apparent reason! This isn't the end of the discussion of Boo's departure just to be clear, I highly doubt Sulley would honestly drop it quickly. So don't you guys worry, he's still thinking about his toddler bestie. <3 Anyways, see you in a few days with chapter 3!


	3. Another Manic Monday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sulley deals with an average Monday while trying to get all the parts of his plan in place.

As per the usual daily morning routine, Mike woke Sulley at 6:01am with his usual loud wake-up call. Mike did this to remind Sulley to get out of bed and do his exercises, much to Sulley’s chagrin. He appreciated how much his friend cared for his health, but now that he wasn’t a scarer, he felt it unnecessary to work out every single morning. Mike justified himself by emphasizing that he’d one day like for his son Michelangelo, little Mikey, to have a play mate and that this would be impossible if Sulley didn’t maintain a good physic to attract a partner. This irritated Sulley, simply because he found his single-monster lifestyle to be satisfying. He’d never had romantic relations before, because he had never felt romantic feelings for anyone before. Also, the fact that Mike dragged his adorable one-year old son into the excuse felt manipulative, as Mike knew Sulley had a soft spot for kids.

Today’s workout routine however felt empowering. As if there was a viable reason to do it – aside from the health benefits. Perhaps it was the emotional adrenaline from the decision he had made on Saturday, which kept its flame within him illuminating since that night. He hadn’t let it slip his mind one bit, oh no, and the more he thought about it the more excited he got. It was hard to say what enticed him most; the feeling of experience something refreshingly new after years of mundane company maintenance, the desire to learn more about the human world from someone who was verbal, or just the thought of seeing a human – her – again. It was weird. Normally, Sulley felt as if he was satisfied with the mundane lifestyle, it never felt bland before. But as he got older, he noticed that the last spark of excitement and change that happened in his life was five years ago, and the spark before that was fifteen years ago. To think that life had gone by so fast, but he felt as if he were changing at a slow pace. The combination of a new home, and a new face, really got his blood pumping, he surmised.

Mike came over around 7:30am and honked his horn twice to get Sulley’s attention. With him, Sulley brought a zip up duffel bag big enough to hold pieces of a door port. He’d have to dismantle one at some point, but he knew he could squeeze in some time. As he made his way to the car Mike pointed under down at his own chin, “Sul, you’re tie.” Sulley looked down and realized his tie was undone. He had been so fixated on everything else that it completely slipped him mind. He got in the car and shoved the bag between his legs, strapped his seat belt on, and began fumbling with his tie. It was a tie he hadn’t worn since it was first given to him on his 20th birthday. It was a slick navy tie, a little too thin for his broad chest, laced with a silver diagonal pattern. He had kept it stuffed away in his dresser, but thanks to the move it was brought back to the surface. Mike glanced over at it and smirked, “Isn’t that the tie your mom bought you when we got promoted to scarer and assistant?” Sulley nodded, his massive claws fumbling with the knot, “Yup. Just found it on Saturday. I think it looks nice.” “I think it looks too thin for you now.” Mike chuckled to himself, nudging Sulley’s arm as he did. Sulley disregarded the friendly insult, he knew Mike was only saying it to ruffle his feathers – that and he knew Mike had let himself go as well. But today was going to be a good day, too good for him to think of thin ties or Mike’s bad comebacks. His good mood seemed to radiate off his body like a beacon, and Mike was quick to point it out.

“You seem to be way too cheery for a guy whose been through what you had on Saturday. What happened on Sunday?” An absentminded “Hm” escaped Sulley’s lips as he thought, was it worth telling his friend and baring the consequences? Not yet. He absentmindedly shrugged, “I just realized that everything is going to be okay. And that made me feel better.” A simple answer to be sure, but an acceptable one for Mike. “Oh, that’s great! I’m proud of you Sul, it’s good to move on and forget about- The past.” Mike stuttered, clearly having trouble finding the right words. Sulley just smiled to himself, aware of his friends’ meek attempt at delicate wording, “Sure is.”

The two parted ways as Mike went to greet the part-time secretary, whose name seemed to escape Sulley every time. Since having Little Mikey, Celia had to cut her hours in order to take care of him. It was a temporary solution, but neither she nor Mike had minded the change. They were both traditional in their beliefs on parenting, and Celia preferred to be at home taking care of their son as often as she could, instead of having Mike’s mother there all the time. Despite her best efforts, Celia could not get Mike’s mother to like her, likely because of how clingy Mrs. Wazsowski was with her son whenever she came to visit. She had said before how Celia “was taking her baby away from her” and Celia’s patience with the woman was growing thin. Sulley would never forget the aftermath of when Mike tried to defend his mother after uttering such vial words towards Celia, and how it resulted in Mike sleeping on Sulley’s couch as Celia spent the night fuming about her in-law. 

Sulley glanced over for a moment at the pair of chatty monsters. He was met with three eyes staring at him (Mike’s singular eye and the secretaries set), till they realized they were caught and looked away. Sulley rolled his eyes; Mike was likely trying to set her up with him. This wasn’t the first co-worker Mike had tried to get Sulley to date, he expected Mike to understand that he was satisfied with his bachelorism. Mike on the other hand said he believed it was best for him to find a mate, as that’s what had brought happiness into Mike’s life, so why wouldn’t it do the same for Sulley? Luckily for Sulley however, the secretary seemed disinterested, and more focused on her pay cheque than on her boss. 

The first part of his plan was about to be set in motion. He had made his way down to the door engineering department, where door ports and parts were a dime a dozen. He greeted a few of the staff there while walking towards the door storage locker. Walking through this part of the factory was always such a unique experience, but not necessarily for the better. Ever since Liz - a snarky and spunky 35-year-old kangaroo-esque monster - took over as head of the department, nothing was ever in the same place twice. Sulley had confronted her about it before as others grew frustrated by her antics, but she always made sure to fluff him off and suggest that they needed to change the way they worked to fit her needs. Once at the locker, Sulley fumbled with his key card to open the door when it flew open on its own. Sulley gave a shocked yelp as he moved away from the entrance, where the sparky green monster herself stood with her arm stretched out and paw slapped against the door. 

“Ooooooh, Hey Jimmy!” Liz, holding a hammer in one paw and a clip board in another chimed as she began walking out of the door, keeping it open with her foot. “What are you doin’ down ‘ere? I thought we uh, agreed that I could take care of this place by meself.” Her words were laced with her thick Australian accent, as well as a layer of hidden distress. Sulley raised his paws and smiled awkwardly, “Oh well, I actually just wanted to grab something really quickly than head back to my office. No constructive criticism for you today.” He shifted to her side as he spoke, clumsily trying to get around her as he put his paw on the door and opened it wider. The department head cocked an eyebrow, “What parts are you needin’? Surely you weren’t gonna try and fix a door without my men helpin’.” Sulley shook his head as calmly as he could, “Nope. Just need one little thing, I’m missing a door handle at my new place and was going to snag a spare one.” He knew he was a bad liar, but he’d hoped Liz would fall for it. Liz seemed to think on what he had said than waved a paw absentmindedly, “Sure, sure. I get it. Gina and I were missin’ one of the legs off one of our tables when we moved. It’s such a pain in the arse. Go ahead and take what you need Sir.” She winked as she said sir, then released her hold on the door, allowing it to close once Sulley let go as well. A heavy sigh echoed through the room as Sulley took the moment to compose himself. That was tougher than he’d thought. Not wasting a moment more, he proceeded to grab parts of a disassembled door port and quickly shoved them into the bag he’d brought. The bag quickly filled up as each part was massive in size and weight, but Sulley knew his efforts would be worthwhile. After filling the bag, he left the lock-up. Closing the door behind him ever so carefully so not to alarm anyone else. With the sensation of success filling his chest, he hurriedly made his way to the elevator and to his office. 

The rest of the workday was as typical as he had expected; a few employees came in asking for raises, a few board chair members called inquiring about their stocks and numbers, and Mike came up to visit every hour or so – helping ease any dullness or frustrations that arose prior. At the end of the day as Sulley made his way to the main floor to meet up with Mike, he held the bag close to his chest. He knew he couldn’t hide it, but he also knew if he talked about other things – anything to do with Mike – it’d distract the one-eyed monster from asking questions. Mike was caught talking to the part-time secretary again, this time making it clear to Sulley what he was doing.

“We like to go out for drinks every once in a while, you should tag along sometime so Sulley doesn’t feel left out!” Mike chimed, supposedly winking to the monster as he spoke. She seemed hesitant and shook her head, 

“I really couldn’t do that, I’d be imposing on you guys-“ 

“Nonsense!” Mike cut her off, is if he was trying to ease her into the idea – but clearly struggled. 

“Mike,” Sulley then interjected, nudging his short friend from behind his head, “We should really leave um, her, alone.” He smiled awkwardly up as her as he said this, “You have yourself a good night.” Before she could say anything, Sulley dragged Mike out. Mike huffed as they got into the car, buckling in his seatbelt as he grumbled, “I was just trying to help you, you know.” “Mikey,” Sulley sighed, “I’m not looking for a relationship. Please don’t do that kind of thing.” Mike looked as though he were ready to retort but closed his mouth, driving in awkward silence. Once they had arrived to Sulley’s place, Mike offered a meek “See you tomorrow big guy” before driving himself home. Sulley couldn’t deny the guilt he felt for making Mike upset, but it frustrated him when Mike did things like that, and he should respect his wishes. That was irrelevant right now though, now it was time to reassemble the heap of metal tucked away in the duffel bag.

After an hour or so of assembly, the port had finally been put together around the door. The best method, Sulley thought, was to have the port pre-attached to the door, as it’d become difficult to manually attach it once all the pieces were set. Eagerly the large monster made his way to the wall plug, which required all six slots in the peg to fit (monster plugs typically only require a three slotted wall plug). As it locked into the wall socket the low hum of power to the port echoed in the open room. The lights flickered as the portal hungrily took up the house’s power supply. With bated breath Sulley arouse and made his way back to the door, hesitating now. After all his hard work, he only now realized how much of a mistake this could be. How ludicrous it was, wanting to go back to the human world without purpose – or with a silly one. It was too late to reconsider, his mind said, we’ve come this far. As the temptation remerged within the monster, he wrapped his claws around the doorknob once again. He took a deep breath and pushed the door open. 

To Sulley’s dismay, the room was empty. Filled with far more things than it had been before, but there was no indication that the human was nearby. Slightly frustrated, Sulley began closing the door – yet something inside him told him to wait. He thought for a moment, of how reasonable or unreasonable it would be for him to just wait in her room, and how long it could take until she would return. He then realized he’d already come this far; it was worth waiting at least a little while. With his mind set, he made his way to the bed yet again. The familiar whine of bedsprings as his weight fell on them echoed throughout the room. Perhaps this would alert the girl? Well, he could only hope. As Sulley waited, he contemplated what to even say to the human, how to go about asking her if it’d be alright for him to visit – to learn more things about humans, of course. 

Nothing else. 

Maybe. 

His mind raced as he continued to think, until the bedroom door creaked open. A human hand grabbed at the side of the door as it was pushed all the way open, the short stature of the human woman came into view. She was holding a pale beige file folder, glancing idly through its contents as she walked inside. Sulley shot up from the bed, the noise caused the human to look up from her reading. She let out a little “eep” before closing the door behind her, “Y-You’re here again!” She sounded cheerier than Sulley would’ve expected, but he certainly didn’t mind. “Well I just uh, well,” the words escaped him. All his mental planning falling to the wayside. “I wanted to see you- the human world again!” He fumbled, not expecting himself to say such a thing. The woman blinked a few times, clearly puzzled and just as surprised as he was with himself. She looked as though she was thinking just as much as he was now, as it took her a moment to speak. “Well, I guess I’m glad? Oh, that came out wrong.” She placed the folder on her desk and waved her hands in front of her, clearly, she was having just as much trouble as he was with thinking of what to say. 

“I mean to say I’m happy you decided to come back, you left me with so many questions and I was kinda upset and couldn’t sleep-” She paused, “I couldn’t decide if you were a dream or not. But I’m glad to see I’m not crazy.” 

Sulley rubbed the back of his neck while chuckling awkwardly, he felt guilty for leaving the human in such a state of confusion, it wasn’t fair of her at all. “I’m really sorry about all that. I was, well, it was emotional for me. But I should’ve at least introduced myself. I’m usually not like that.” He extended his arm out to the woman, his clawed paw shaking ever-so-slightly, he was never the most courageous monster, but not this weak either. He took another moment before speaking,

“Name’s James P. Sullivan, CEO of Monsters, Inc.” He smiled sheepishly, “But uh, my friends call me Sulley.” 

There was a moment of silence between them at first, the human looked at the massive paw and was visibly intimidated by it. An eternity passed before she placed her pint-sized hand into it, pressing down on it rather than shaking it proper. “I’m Allison, but Ally works too.” She reflected his smile as she added “I’m also a fan of nicknames.” The atmosphere in the room changed again, however instead of it being one of awkward fear or emotional frustration, it was one of peace. Placing a name to this human face made Sulley feel at ease, and as if the situation wasn’t actually as insane as he had originally thought. Even their eye contact didn’t feel off, it felt organic and pleasant. 

A few moments passed before they moved their hands away, each sharing a sheepish expression towards the other again. 

“So,” Ally began, “You said you wanted to see the human world again, was there something specific you were curious about?” 

The innocent question caused Sulley to awkwardly chuckle again, oh how was he going to answer this. Even he wasn’t sure what specifically intrigued him about the human world, and though in some recesses of his mind there lay the answer, he couldn’t find it at that very moment. He’d decided that the best answer for now was the vaguest answer. 

“I’m curious about it all. As much as you’re willing to teach me.” His smile was that of a nervous wreck, hoping such a weak answer would satisfy his new human friend. Ally put a finger to her lips and looked thoughtfully into the abyss, her expression changing from thoughtful to cheeky rather quickly. “There’s a lot of ground to cover if that’s the case. How about we make a deal?” The now eager woman plopped herself onto the bed beside where Sulley had originally sat. A confident grin now graced her face as she began to explain her proposition,

“I’m also quite curious, but about your monster world,” She folded her arms, “Every night or so we should get together and spend some time teaching each other about the others world. Our lives, our little nuances, all the things that might fascinate the other. I think it’d be fun!” It was a bold suggestion, especially considering the possible problems that lay with telling the human about the monster world. If he had told her too much and she told other humans, it could disrupt life as he knew it. Then again, he was extremely interested in the idea of meeting up with the woman more and learning new things he had never known about humans and their ways. It’d also allow him to not be alone, to have someone to talk to when he felt as such. That in of itself was too great to pass up on.

“Deal. But,” He motioned at the bedroom door as he spoke, “Please don’t tell anyone else about this. It’s kind of important that the monster world stays a secret to humans.” Ally opened her mouth to respond but Sulley placed a paw on her shoulder, “Please just promise me that?” He emphasized the seriousness of the request through his facial expression. His brows were furrowed with anxiety, and his lip trembled slightly in his cautious smile. The fear washed away quickly however, when the small human smiled sincerely and nodded up at him, “I promise."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it begins my dudes. The meetings have been set, and now they gonna be chilling. Also sorry for the butchered Aussie accent, but I couldn't help myself. :3c


	4. Update

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a little update incase anyone was curious. :)

Hey all, I'm so sorry it's been nearly a year since chapter 3. A lot has been going on in my crazy life since then. I actually have chapter 4 written up on another computer that I currently don't have access to. I should have it in December, and I'll post it right away! I will do my best to continue this story, as it is my baby. In the meantime however, I will be writing another story. Not Monsters, Inc., as I wanna stick to one Sulley lovestory at a time. I appreciate the patience, and hopefully I'll still have readers when I post the next chapter. <3


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